


Love Is Enough

by 50251sid



Category: The Borgias, The Borgias (2011)
Genre: Canon Gay Character, Excessive Drinking, F/M, Friendship/Love, Gay Experimentation, M/M, Prostitution, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-10
Updated: 2013-12-10
Packaged: 2018-01-04 05:20:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1077010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/50251sid/pseuds/50251sid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While at University together, Cesare Borgia and Micheletto Corella discover new common ground.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Is Enough

_I want to write about you_

_To say all the things that you are_

_And what you mean to me_

_And how I cannot live without you_

_But words simply fail me._

_(And I am a wordsmith!)_

 

At seventeen, Cesare Borgia is sent to study at the University of Pisa, which has been reestablished by Lorenzo de’ Medici. 

His father, Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia, sends a flattering letter to Lorenzo the Magnificent, placing Cesare under his protection.  Cesare, however, has more confidence in the protection of Micheletto Corella, his close friend, who will attend university with him.  The two young men have been inseparable since childhood.  Both are formidable with weapons, but Micheletto is also gifted in the craft of the assassin.

Cesare is tall and beautiful to look upon, and dresses and comports himself like the son of a great prince.  His friend prefers quiet attire and conduct.  Cesare’s voice is velvet; Micheletto speaks in a rasping tone.  Cesare is known for his scholarship and learned disputation.  Micheletto is known for being Cesare’s shadow.  Two such figures do not go unnoticed. 

Their relationship is the subject of much conjecture.  It is common to find the two friends waking naked and tangled together in a common bed after a night of tavern hopping.  Cesare howls with laughter at the rumors about them.  Micheletto says nothing, but his face reddens.

 

Cesare and Micheletto have paid a visit to a brothel which is a favorite of Cardinal Borgia’s son because it is clean and offers whores who are both pretty and accommodating.  Having tended to their business of pleasure, they depart and make their way through the hushed streets.  Cesare stops and undoes his codpiece.

“As much wine as I drank, I should be staggering instead of just having to piss,” he observes.

“Shows you how watered down that whorehouse swill is.  Stop wasting your money and get drunk elsewhere.”

“At least I got a good trimming.  How about you?”

Micheletto shrugs.  Cesare is astonished.

“What?  You didn’t enjoy?  I know the girl you picked tonight.  She’s good at pleasing a man in the French manner.”

“It wasn’t anything she did or didn’t do.  I just wasn’t in the mood.”

“I’ve never heard of any such thing as a man who wasn’t in the mood.  Maybe you should have eaten some oysters.  Or are you feeling sick, perhaps?”

“I’m fine.  I just have my mind on my studies this evening.  As should you.”

“My studies aren’t harmed by my libido, Micheletto.  A good fuck now and then keeps my mind sharp.  It’s not like I go out carousing every night.”

“Well, I don’t have your gifts, Cesare Borgia.  I need to work harder and study harder than you do.  I really have no time for fooling around.”

“All right, all right.  Let’s just go back to our rooms then.  There is still an hour or two that you could devote to academics if you want.”

Cesare tucks away his equipment and the two young men continue on to their rooms.

Cesare retires to his own bed alone.  He isn’t drunk enough to fall onto his friend’s couch tonight.

Micheletto sits at his desk and lights a candle, then reaches for one of his books.  He tries to concentrate, but is distracted by Cesare’s long, nude body sprawled across the bed on the other side of the room.  He chews his lip.  What would Cesare think if he knew how Micheletto watched him night after night as he slept in blissful, naked, oblivion?  They have been close friends since they were children, yet Cesare has no idea of Micheletto’s true nature, nor of his true sentiments.  Or is it just that he refuses to see?

What to do?  Continue to be silent and preserve the friendship, or take a chance and speak out and possibly (likely) lose his friend forever?  Micheletto cringes inwardly as he imagines Cesare pulling away from him with an expression of outrage and disgust on his beautiful face. 

But how much longer can he keep up the ruse?  How many more times can he accompany Cesare to prowl for women, feigning a desire he just doesn’t feel?  How much longer can he control himself when Cesare collapses naked and drunk onto his bed, intertwining his arms and legs around his own? 

He drapes a light blanket over Cesare, as much for his own ease as for the sleeper’s. 

 

Cesare is overjoyed to receive word that his mother is coming to visit him, bringing his sister Lucrezia with her.  He and Micheletto plan to entertain the ladies lavishly.  When they arrive, the young girl flings herself into her brother’s arms and holds the embrace long past the point of propriety.  He cannot bear to release her either.  Micheletto seeks to distract Vannozza’s attention by bowing deeply over her hand and kissing it, and then pointing out to her the beauty of the University buildings and environs.

They spend a cheerful evening dining and enjoying music played by students in a chapel on the grounds.  Lucrezia sweetly sings along to a familiar hymn and is joined by Cesare’s smooth voice. 

The next day is given over to sightseeing in the countryside.  A carriage has been hired for the women, and Cesare and Micheletto accompany them on horseback.  They picnic in the open air, inviting the carriage driver to share their meal. 

After a long day of activity, Vannozza needs a nap, but Lucrezia is still full of energy and curiosity.  Cesare offers to show her around the University.  Micheletto follows them unobtrusively, not really expecting any incidents but determined to prevent unpleasant surprises.  Lucrezia snuggles in close to her brother, who wraps his arm around her protectively.  She is so little, not even reaching to his shoulder.  Micheletto is charmed by the obvious sibling affection, so he is astounded when he sees Cesare pull Lucrezia into a dark corner and kiss her with unbrotherly passion.  The pair then make their way to a nearby inn, where they spend the next two hours.  Micheletto waits outside until they emerge, flushed and smiling, locked in each other’s arms.  Unseen, he follows them back to their rooms.

 

A sheet has been hung around Cesare’s bed to give privacy to the women who will sleep there.  Lucrezia retires with a chaste kiss for her brother.  Vannozza sips from a goblet of red wine and sighs as she airs her concerns for her daughter.

“The Holy Father insists upon marrying her off as soon as possible.  I don’t think she is ready.”

Cesare growls.

“Of course she’s not ready.  She’s just a child.”

Micheletto wonders how much like a child Cesare treated Lucrezia this afternoon in the room at the inn.

Vannozza continues.

“Alliances must be made, I know, but it doesn’t sit well with me that they are to be made upon the body of my daughter.  She has always been treated gently, like a fragile treasure.  I fear to give her to a husband who may not be so tender.”

“Then we must ensure that he is.  If he isn’t, he will answer to me.”

“Unfortunately, dear son, a husband’s rights supersede those of a brother.  There won’t be much recourse for you after her marriage.”

“I will protect Lucrezia for as long as I live.  If anything ever happened to her…”

“Your devotion is beautiful to see.  Perhaps we can prevail upon your father to choose Lucrezia’s husband with a care to her happiness as well as his own.”

 

Cesare shares Micheletto’s cot while his mother and sister visit.  As a concession to modesty, both men wear chemises to bed.

Cesare escorts Lucrezia on several more excursions during her visit, and all feature a side trip to the inn which Micheletto first observed them entering. 

The time finally comes for Vannozza and her daughter to return home.  Lucrezia and Cesare have spent a prolonged interlude at the inn the day before.  As the coachman loads baggage onto the carriage, the siblings make their goodbyes.  Cesare keeps his back to his mother so she cannot see him clutching Lucrezia’s hand and pressing it to his lips ardently.  Micheletto does his best to distract Vannozza’s attention from her children.  They can delay no longer, however.  Lucrezia and her mother enter the carriage and drive off.  Cesare watches after them long after they have disappeared from view.  Finally he turns to his friend. 

“I need to get drunk,” he announces.

Micheletto follows Cesare to the inn where the siblings have spent time during these past few days.  The young men order wine, and lots of it.  Micheletto only pretends to drink.  He quietly empties his cup into the straw covering the floor.  He must keep his wits about him, because Cesare is becoming stupefied with drink, helplessly drunk.  When he is finally lolling head-down on the table, warbling the hymn he and his sister had sung together on the first night of their visit, Micheletto decides it is time to get him home.  He pulls Cesare to his feet and drags him out of the inn.  Fortunately, it is only a short distance to their rooms, but Cesare has to stop twice to vomit and once to piss. 

“You’re a good friend,” Cesare slurs, draping his arms around Micheletto’s neck and sloppily kissing his cheek.  “I love you like a brother.”

Micheletto wonders lewdly if Cesare loves him in the same brotherly way that he loves Lucrezia.

Cesare continues to sing the hymn.  Micheletto wishes he would just shut up and keep lurching along.

When they finally reach the house where their rooms are located, Micheletto holds Cesare’s head one more time while he vomits and then pushes him up the stairs to their quarters.  He cleans his face with a cool, wet cloth while Cesare weakly protests, then undresses him and puts him to bed. 

“Make the room stop spinning, Micheletto.”

“That I cannot do.  You will have to ride it out.”

“I feel sick.”

“Here is a basin.”

“You’re a good friend, Micheletto.  I love you like a brother.”

“Yes, you said that.”

“I mean it.”

“Tell me when you aren’t shitfaced.  It will have more meaning.”

Loud snoring announces that Cesare has passed out.  Micheletto sighs with relief. 

 

He awakens to the sound of Cesare vomiting yet again.  He has seen his friend through many a binge, but this is the worst ever. 

“Micheletto.”

“Yes, Cesare?”

“Close the curtains.  The light is hurting my eyes.”

Micheletto moves to darken the room.  He kneels down beside Cesare, who is sitting on the side of the bed, holding the basin between his knees. 

“Do we have classes today?  I don’t think I can make them.”

“No, you cannot.  And I will stay and attend you.  You shouldn’t be left alone.”

Micheletto hands Cesare a cup of wine. 

“Drink this.”

“Ugh.  More wine?  I can’t.”

“Drink it.  Hair of the dog.”

Cesare gags down the wine and appears about to vomit again. 

“I really did it this time, didn’t I?”

“Parting from your family must have been hard.”

“Parting from Lucrezia.  It’s killing me.”

“It was hard for her too.”

Cesare begins to cry.  Micheletto waves his hands around helplessly.

“I’m sorry, Cesare.  I didn’t mean to upset you.  Try to go back to sleep now.  It will do you good.”

He helps his friend to lie down and gently covers him.

“Sing to me, Micheletto.”

“You know I have no voice.”

“I don’t care.  Sing me the hymn that _she_ sang.  I’ll sing it with you.”

If it weren’t so pathetic, Micheletto thinks, he would have to laugh out loud.  What a tableau they must make! 

 

Cesare awakens several hours later, sobered up but furry tongued, thirsty and hungry.  His head pounds.

“I am being punished, my friend.  My sins must be legion.”

“You’re no worse than anyone else.  I’ll get you some food.  Don’t try to stand.  You’ll be sorry if you do.”

He brings Cesare a plate of bread, cheese and olives, and a pitcher of fresh water.  Cesare gingerly sits up and Micheletto kneels on the floor beside him.

“You’re a good friend, Micheletto.  How can I thank you for taking care of me?”

“Well, you could start by not getting this drunk again.”

‘I don’t know what came over me.”

“Yes you do.  Lucrezia.  I saw you kiss her.  I saw where the two of you went on your excursions.  I know how you love each other.”

Cesare blushes.

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“Wouldn’t I?  I know a bit about loving the wrong person.”

“You?  What would you know?”

“I love.”

“Whom do you love?”

“Someone I can never have.  Someone as forbidden to me as Lucrezia is forbidden to you.”

“Who is she?  Tell me.”

“I cannot.  I fear to lose your affection if I do.”

“That could not happen.”

“Couldn’t it?  What if my love was thought to be even more unnatural than that which you bear your sister?”

“I don’t understand.”

“I love another _man_ , Cesare Borgia!  Not a woman.  A man!”

Cesare blinks.  He blinks again. 

“So that’s why you could not take pleasure with the girls at the brothel.  Why you never showed interest in any woman.  Now I understand.”

“Are you disgusted?”

“I who lie with my own sister?  Hardly disgusted.  Grateful for your honesty.  Let there be no more walls between us.”

“Then I must tell you the rest of my secret.  The identity of the man whom I love.  You, Cesare Borgia.  I love you.”

“You honor me, Micheletto.  I love you too.”

“Not in the same way, Cesare. It is vastly different.”

Cesare presses his forehead to Micheletto’s.

“Show me.”

 

A new understanding suffuses the relationship between Cesare and Micheletto. 

Cesare no longer hides his love for Lucrezia from his friend.  He wears it fearlessly.

Micheletto knows that Cesare’s love for him transcends all barriers.  What passed between them will not be repeated, but it exists in both their memories as a bond of tenderness and communion that ties them together for all time. 

 

Unnatural loves?  Forbidden loves?  Love is love.

It is enough.


End file.
